Carrying and dispensing device for box-contained wire

ABSTRACT

A carrier cart for mounting a plurality of containers of coiled wire, each container having an aperture in one face for withdrawal of the wire therefrom, the containers being mounted in individual compartments of the carrier, each compartment having a window to corespond with the container aperture when the container is retained in the compartments, all of the compartments being disposed in horizontal and/or vertical position with respect to each other and open on their sides to receive individual containers. With this construction, and with the carrier upright, the apertures of the containers all face the workman and are accessible through the windows in the carrier whereby any combination of wires may be conveniently and simultaneously withdrawn from the retained containers for introduction into conduits or the like.

United States Patent Stillman CARRYING AND DISPENSING DEVICE FORBOX-CONTAINED WIRE {76] Inventor: Robert H. Stillman, 10316 Pico VistaRd., Downey, Calif. 90241 [22] Filed: July 29, 1971 [21] Appl. No.:167,222

[52] US. Cl 242/129.5, 242/137, 280/47.17 [51] Int. Cl. B65h 49/00, DQlh7/16,]362b 1 /0 [58] Field of Search..... 242/128-1298, 137, 137.1,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,304,025 2/1967 Zerg et a1.242/129 3,214,113 10/1965 Murray et a1. 242/129 2,828,928 4/1958Kollisch 242/137.l 3,411,798 11/1968 Capadalis 280/5.32 2,596,095 5/1952Bina 225/67 Primary Examiner-Leonard D. Christian Attorney-Harris, Kern,Wallen & Tinsley [5 7 ABSTRACT A carrier cart for mounting a pluralityof containers of coiled wire, each container having an aperture in oneface for withdrawal of the wire therefrom, the containers being mountedin individual compartments of the carrier, each compartment having awindow to corespond with the container aperture when the container isretained in the compartments, all of the compartments being disposed inhorizontal and/or vertical position with respect to each other and openon their sides to receive individual containers. With this construction,and with the carrier upright, the apertures of the containers all facethe workman and are accessible through the windows in the carrierwhereby any combination of wires may be conveniently and simultaneouslywithdrawn from the retained containers for introduction into conduits orthe like.

1 Claim, 4 Drawing Figures &

viii- CARRYING AND DISPENSING DEVICE FOR BOX-CONTAINED WIRE BACKGROUNDOF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a carrier cart adaptedto mount boxes or containers of coiled wire for on-the-job utilizationof the wire, for example, for installation by electrical contractors inelectrical conduits. In new home construction, the electrical conduit isfirst installed in place and thereafter the appropriate number of wiresare snaked through for ultimate connection to lighting fixtures,switches, electric wall sockets, and the like.

It is convenient and preferable for the workman to snake the requirednumber of wires through the conduit at the same time. The wires requiredmay well vary in gauge and color coating. It is necessary therefore tohave a variety of wire of different gauge and coding for any particularjob, and it is also necessary to move the source of the wire from placeto place in the construction area for feeding into the variouselectrical conduits.

There is presently available to the trade a carrier cart which mounts aplurality of spools or reels of wire for the above mentioned intendedpurpose. There are certain limitations in such carriers of spooled wirein that the removal and replacement of reels, whether empty or partiallyfilled, for replacement by other gauges and- /or color, is difficult dueto the positioning of the spools, the size, and weight thereof, etc.This is particularly true when the reels are all mounted on the sameaxis.

More recently, electrical wire has been coiled into relatively cheappaperboard boxes which are convenient for shipping, handling, storingand utilization. There is a substantial increase in such packaging ascompared to the old conventional reeled wire.

One average paperboard box size for coiled wire is twelve inches squareand three inches deep, and one of the square faces'of the box isscored'or suitably marked to provide an aperture, preferably circular,and approximately in the center thereof so that the coiled wire may bewithdrawn from the box by the workman. As the wire is depleted, thediameter of the aperture may be increased to facilitate removal and tominimize the possibility of crimping of the wire.

The apparatus of the instant invention is designed to mount and handle aplurality of containers of such variety of wire, thereby overcoming thedifficulty in using such boxed wire without a carrier and alsoovercoming the disadvantages encountered in using wire supplied uponreels, as will be seen in the following summary and description.

SUMMARY AND OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION A general object of the presentinvention is to provide a mobile carrier for a plurality of containersof coiled wire, the carrier being provided with compartments toconveniently and individually receive and retain containers in positionfacing the workman so that any combination of wires may be withdrawn byhim for installation into electrical conduits or the like.

More particularly, it is the object of the present invention to providea plurality of such compartments in I a carrier of the foregoing nature,each compartment to conveniently receive the insertion of a container,to retain the container in position, and to provide a window throughwhich the wire may be withdrawn from the container by the workman.

A further object is to provide a carrier for a plurality of containersof coiled wire wherein, when the carrier is upright, all containers areoriented horizontally and vertically of each other with their respectiveapertures facing the same direction, and to provide the foregoingcarrier with compartments having windows that coincide with theapertures of the containers of coiled wire when fully inserted into thecompartments.

Another object is to provide a mobile wire carrier in which thecontainers of wire may be easily and quickly inserted, removed orreplaced with respect to the compartments, so that the wire supplies ofproper size and color code will be conveniently available to the workman when moved from place to place at the selected job location.

A related object is to provide such a carrier which is rigid and of openframework construction rendering it relatively light in use andeconomical to manufacture.

The foregoing objects, advantages, features and results of the presentinvention, together with various other objects, advantages, features andresults thereof which will be evident to those skilled in the art towhich the invention relates to the light of this disclosure, may beachieved with the exemplary embodiment of the invention illustrated inthe accompanying drawing and described in detail hereafter.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. I is an isometric view of the carryingand dispensing device with containers of wire mounted therein andillustrating the wires being snaked into an electrical conduit;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged front elevational view thereof illustrated withtwo containers in phantom in the upper compartments;

FIG. 3 is a side elevational view of the device without any containersmounted therein; and

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of the device taken along the line 44 of FIG.2 and illustrating a container in phantom mounted therein.

DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENT OF INVENTION In the drawing, thecarrier cart of the present invention is designated generally by thenumeral 10, and in FIG. I thereof it is illustrated as having mountedtherein a plurality of containers 12 of coiled wire 13. The wires 13 areillustrated as being snaked into an electrical conduit 14 which ismounted rigidly with re- 7 spect to the usual electrical conduit box 15which is in turn rigidly affixed, for example, to the studding 16 of abuilding under construction. The wires 13 are withdrawn by the workmanfrom their respective containers 12 through apertures 18 in thecontainers, each wire conveniently uncoiling as it is withdrawn.

The carrier is of open framework construction, and when in use it isnormally disposed in an upright position as illustrated in FIGS. 1, 2and 3. The device will be described as oriented in this position, but itis understood that it may be oriented in a horizontal or any otherconvenient position depending upon the location of the electricalconduit into which the wires are to be snaked. Further, in thisdescription the front of the device will be that side from which thewires emanate.

The frame of the carrier is constituted in part by vertically disposedfront bars 21, 22, 23 and 24; and vertically disposed rear bars 25, 26,27 and 28; and a vertically disposed central bar 29. The frame is alsoconstituted in part by horizontally disposed cross bars 32, 33 and 34; ahorizontally disposed footplate 35; and top or upper bars 36 and 37.

The front bars, rear bars, cross bars and upper bars are rigidly securedtogether by a plurality of connector bars 40. For added rigidity theremay be included a plurality of horizontally disposed reinforcing bars 42interconnecting any of the cross bars 32, 33 or 34 to any of the frontor rear bars. The number of reinforcing bars and their location may beselected as desired, but in the present embodiment it is adequate todispose the ribs 42 only between the cross bar 33 and the front bars 22and 23 and the rear bars 26 and 27.

In the preferred embodiment, the bars are made of tubular metal of thesame cross section. The front bars 21 and 24 together with upper bar 36may be constructed of one piece and formed as illustrated to providerounded corners 43 and 44. Rear bars 25 and 28 together with upper bar37 may be similarly formed.

The materials used are all compatible for welding together. All of thefront bars, rear bars and central bar are secured, by welding, at theirlower extremities to the footplate 35. All of the connector bars 40 arewelded at their extremities to the front bars and rear bars,respectively, excepting the bar 40 which is welded intermediate theupper bars 36 and 37. All of the other junctions between the cross barsand the connector bars and reinforcing bars are connected preferably bywelding. With respect to the intersections between the central bar 29and the cross bars 32, 33 and 34, it is preferable that the central bar29 be constructed of one piece.

To provide mobility for the carrier cart, a pair of wheels 45 aremounted, respectively, to the ends of an axle (not shown), the axlebeing journaled for rotation within a sleeve 46 which is in turnconnected at its extremities to a pair of brackets 47. The brackets areconnected to the rear bars 25 and 28 at such a position that the cartcan be supported and maintained in the upright position illustrated,that is, when both wheels 45 and the footplate 35 simultaneously engagethe ground.

In the illustrated embodiment, there are eight containers 12 of wiremounted in the carrier cart. Each of the containers is disposed within acompartment formed by a pair of the front bars, a pair of the rear bars,the central bar 29, and one of the cross bars 32, 33 or 34 or thefootplate 35. For example, and with reference to FIG. 2, the compartmenton the left and the third from the bottom is defined by front bars 21and 22, rear bars 25 and 26, central bar 29, and cross bar 33 togetherwith connector bar 40 which interconnects cross bar 33 with front bar 21and rear bar 25. With respect to the compartment under discussion, andwhen the carrier is in the upright position, the container is providedwith lateral support, as best illustrated in FIG. 4, by bars 21, 22, 25,26 and 29; and it is provided with vertical support by the cross bar 33.Due to the open framework construction, the compartment is provided witha side opening 50 into which the container may be slidably inserted, andwhen the container contacts the central bar 29 it is fully inserted andretained within the compartment. In this position, the aperture 18 ofthe container 12 faces, and is aligned with, a front opening or windowin the compartment whereby the wire may be reached and convenientlywithdrawn from the container by the workman.

In the embodiment illustrated, there are eight compartments in the frameof the carrier, each being substantially identical in size andconfiguration, and adapted to slidably receive therein containers 12 ofcoiled wire. The containers are oriented both horizontally andvertically of each other in their compartments with their apertures 18facing in the same direction, and adjacent the windows of thecompartments, all of the windows being in the same plane. Thearrangement provides for any combination of wires 13 to be convenientlywithdrawn by a workman from the containers for snaking into anelectrical conduit or the like.

As indicated above, the wheels 45 provide for mobility of the carriercart and as an aid in maintaining the carrier upright. For convenienceof handling, a pair of legs 53 may be welded to the frame at the upperend thereof, each leg being provided with a handgrip 54. The legs alsoserve the purpose for ground support of the carrier if it is disposed ina horizontal position.

Although an exemplary embodiment of the invention has been disclosedherein for purposes of illustration, it will be understood that variouschanges, modifications and substitutions may be incorporated in suchembodiment without departing from the spirit of the invention as definedby the claims which follow.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a carrier for a plurality of containers of coiled wire, each ofthe containers being generally rectangular in shape and relatively thin,each container having in one large face thereof an aperture for removalof wire therefrom, the combination of:

a first open side structure consisting of a first bar and a second barparallel thereto extending longitudinally of the carrier and spacedapart a distance only slightly greater than the thickness of one of thecontainers;

a second open side structure consisting of a third bar and a fourth barparallel thereto extending longitudinally of the carrier and spacedapart similarly to said first and second bars and in a second planeparallel to the first plane in which said first and second bars aredisposed, said first and third bars being in a rear plane perpendicularto said first and second planes and said second and fourth bars being ina front plane perpendicular to said first and second planes and parallelto said rear plane, said first and second side structures defining anopen cargo space;

a central bar extending longitudinally of the carrier between said frontand rear planes and substantially midway between said side structuresand parallel thereto, to divide such cargo space into a pair oflongitudinally parallel cargo spaces;

a pair of back bars extending longitudinally of the carrier in said backplane and each being between said central bar and one of said sidestructures;

a pair of front bars extending longitudinally of the carrier in saidfront plane and each being between said central bar and one of said sidestructures but substantially closer to said central bar than to suchside structure;

a plurality of transverse dividers, each in a transverse planeperpendicular to said other planes and dividing said cargo spaces into aplurality of container 6 compartments of substantially equal size, eachof a common plane; and Sald compartments bemg adapted to recelve a meansfor connecting all of said bars and dividers totainer through one ofsaid side structures adjacent thereto with the aperture thereof facingtowards said front plane, all of said compartments being in 5 gether toform an open but unitary structure.

1. In a carrier for a plurality of containers of coiled wire, each ofthe containers being generally rectangular in shape and relatively thin,each container having in one large face thereof an aperture for removalof wire therefrom, the combination of: a first open side structureconsisting of a first bar and a second bar parallel thereto extendinglongitudinally of the carrier and spaced apart a distance only slightlygreater than the thickness of one of the containers; a second open sidestructure consisting of a third bar and a fourth bar parallel theretoextending longitudinally of the carrier and spaced apart similarly tosaid first and second bars and in a second plane parallel to the firstplane in which said first and second bars are disposed, said first andthird bars being in a rear plane perpendicular to said first and secondplanes and said second and fourth bars being in a front planeperpendicular to said first and second planes and parallel to said rearplane, said first and second side structures defining an open cargospace; a central bar extending longitudinally of the carrier betweensaid front and rear planes and substantially midway between said sidestructures and parallel thereto, to divide such cargo space into a pairof longitudinally parallel cargo spaces; a pair of back bars extendinglongitudinally of the carrier in said back plane and each being betweensaid central bar and one of said side structures; a pair of front barsextending longitudinally of the carrier in said front plane and eachbeing between said central bar and one of said side structures butsubstantially closer to said central bar than to such side structure; aplurality of transverse dividers, each in a transverse planeperpendicular to said other planes and dividing said cargo spaces into aplurality of container compartments of substantially equal size, each ofsaid compartments being adapted to receive a container through one ofsaid side structures adjacent thereto with the aperture thereof facingtowards said front plane, all of said compartments being in a commonplane; and means for connecting all of said bars and dividers togetherto form an open but unitary structure.